Fall Donaghy Day at ISU

Fall Donaghy Day at ISU

Students volunteer in and around Indiana State University to give back to their home away from home.

For Indiana State University, today is Fall Donaghy Day, meaning freshmen students were all over the area getting involved in community service.

These freshmen just moved in over the weekend. Classes haven't yet started and they're already out volunteering in the community they'll call home for the next four years.

Indiana State freshmen are already showing their school spirit and support for the community that they now consider "home". Two days prior to the start of classes some students made their way through the Wabash Valley for Fall Donaghy Day.

Heather Dalton Miklozek, with ISU's Center for Community Engagement, said: "It's really just a way for us to get our students out into the community... some of them are not from Terre Haute or from the Wabash Valley and they have not really seen what Terre Haute looks like outside of campus."

Participating freshmen certainly got a view of the valley outside of campus by donating their time to one of many non-profit organizations.

Sophomore Tyler Pfaff said, "It was a great way to get out to the community, to reach the community and just have a great time."

Freshman Kylee Leverett said, "I really like volunteering and Indiana State is number one in the nation for volunteering and community service. in my home town i used to volunteer at a local food bank so i think it's a really good opportunity to help out the community."

Indiana State University was recognized by a publication called Washington Monthly as the number one school in community service. The school as a whole committed more than one million hours of community service to gain that title for one calender year.

Freshman Kylee Leverett volunteered at the West Terre Haute Little League Fields with 10 other students. Vice president of the league, Wade Fulford, was impressed with the efforts of the students.

Wade Fulford said, "It's just amazing their level of service, they're not here because they have to be, it's because they truly want to be and it's everything that our park stands for."

School administrators highly encouraged ISU freshmen to participate in Donaghy Day for Fall Welcome.

Miklozek said, "Our intent is to get them to a service site that hopefully is something that can be connected to their academic work.

There were around 40 locations where students spent time volunteering today.

Another donaghy day of service will happen at the beginning of the spring semester.

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